Drumming up a double celebration!

 

On a bright Sunday morning, with the Johor Straits and busy causeway for a backdrop on 12 June 2022, 100 drummers drumming Chinese drums to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association and the 34^th anniversary since the founding of the 24 Festive Drums on 12 June 1988.

 

A spectacular show by 100 drummers along
with wushu artistes on 12 June 2022

It was wonderful weather for a double celebration and I was privileged to be among the invited guests to witness such a momentous occasion for the Chinese community in Johor.

 

Just a day ago, in a telephone conversation with Tan Chai Puan, co-founder of the art of the 24 Festive Drums, Tan invited me to the event planned to be held at the R&F Princess Cove Sales Gallery at Tanjung Puteri.

 

Tan said that it would be a brief event in the morning, with three speeches by only three people: himself as the co-founder of the 24 Festive Drums, the R&F Group Chairman, Richard Hu, and Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association president, Ho Sow Tong.

 

I signed in on a traditional Chinese guest book

This would be followed by a 24 Festive Drums performance by the JB Drums troop and the auspicious ceremony where 100 drums would be drummed by VIPs and guests to commemorate the 100^th year anniversary of the JB Tiong Hua Association.

 

I pictured this scene in my imagination… and it turned out exactly as he described.

 

When I walked from the R&F Mall along a familiar path towards the Sales Gallery, I knew I was on the right track to the event when I saw a drummer – in his costume – standing next to a stack of three Chinese drums.

 

Tan Chai Puan, presenting his speech

At the reception desk, I had the pleasure to sign my name in shining silver ink on a page of auspicious Red in a traditional Chinese guest book.

 

As I settled into my seat in the event hall, I had a sudden flashback to my previous time at the R&F Princess Cove Sales Gallery for the 32^nd anniversary of the 24 Festive Drums in 2020, where I participated with Tan in a Facebook live-sharing event, conducted in English.

 

I was also honoured to be part of the 30^th anniversary of the 24 Festive Drums, first at the Johor Old Temple where the original drum troop from 1988 graced the event and I was invited to join them for a national level celebration in Kuala Lumpur in 2018.

 

Front Row Left to Right: Mrs Tan Hooi Song,
Tan Chai Puan and Ho Sow Tong

As I was familiar with the proud heritage of the 24 Festive Drums in Johor, I was pleased to observe that Mrs Tan, widow of the late Tan Hooi Song, the other co-founder of the 24 Festive Drums, and daughter, were also present at the event.

 

It was so good that Tan and the 24 Festive Drums Association were sharing these significant milestones with Mrs Tan and her family, just as they did when the art of the 24 Festive Drums was proudly recognised as a National Cultural Heritage by the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry on 14 February 2009. 

 

An auspicious ceremony with 100
VIPs and guests drumming 100 drums

During his speech, presented in Mandarin, Tan spoke a line in English to acknowledge the presence of Chairperson of the Iskandar Malaysia Social Heroes Award (IMSHA), Mrs Thanam Visvanathan Suresh.

 

Tan was working with Thanam and the IMSHA team as part of the original Leadership Council for three years before he was released from that role.

 

This was because Tan was an IMSHA nominee who deserved to win for his contributions to the development of arts and culture here.

 

Upon his release from the Council, Tan could then accept this much deserved award in IMSHA 2017 for the Arts, Culture and Heritage (Individual) category.

 

A dramatic drum performance by JB Drums

When the Johor Baru Tiong-Hua Association vacated their premises at the city’s heritage quarter and moved to their new building in Taman Sri Tebrau, their property was refurbished and opened as the Johor Baru Chinese Heritage Museum. 

 

At its official opening in 2009, the then Johor Menteri Besar declared Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, a Heritage Walk.

 

Between 2009 and 2014, the Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk committee worked hard to organise a series of public cultural events at the Heritage Walk on Saturday nights. 

 

One for the album: a group photograph

These events were very successful as the road was closed to vehicular traffic in the evenings to encourage more people to come into the city to enjoy the street carnival activities.

 

When Tan was involved with organizing cultural events here, he actively cooperated with me to provide relevant information so that I could write about Chinese cultural events in English. This was the start of our collaboration which continues to this day.

 

Among the Chinese culture-heritage pieces that I had researched and shared in English language to benefit the Chinese who do not read Chinese, was the origin of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association.

 

A cheerful crowd at the celebration!

To understand its origins, we need to go back to the 1800s when the Chinese accepted the Johor ruler’s invitation to come to open up land for the cultivation of pepper and gambier in the kangchu system.

 

In 1844, Tan Kee Soon, leader of the Ngee Heng Kongsi or society, led his followers in the Teochew clan to settle in Johor. The Teochew was the dominant Chinese dialect along with the Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Hainanese who made Johor their new home. 

 

While the Ngee Heng society started as a quasi-military revolutionary brotherhood that was opposed to the Ching dynasty, their activities in Johor Baru evolved into valuable social, political and administrative work that contributed to Johor’s early economic growth. 

A dramatic drum show by 
Foon Yew School students

When Sultan Abu Bakar recognised the strength and solidarity of a brotherhood like the Ngee Heng society, he legalised it as an association in 1873 with membership opened to all Chinese clans and assigned it to take charge of Chinese community affairs. 

 

United with the other Chinese clans as a legal society, the Johor Old Temple was built to house the deities worshipped by the five Chinese clans, a common cemetery called Kongsi San was established and the Foon Yew School was opened to accept students from the five Chinese clans.  

 

The legalised Ngee Heng society eventually developed into the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association in 1922 and remains an integral part of the history of Chinese-Malay relationships that undergirds the strong support between the Johor sultanate and the Chinese community here.

 

VIPs and guests enjoying the drum show
at this meaningful and memorable celebration

The double celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association and the 34^th anniversary of the founding of the 24 Festive Drums, continued outdoors in the open space where 100 Chinese drums were arranged in rows.

 

An impressive 24 Festive Drums performance by the JB Drums troop was followed by the auspicious ceremony where 100 drums were drummed by VIPs and guests to commemorate the 100^th year anniversary of the JB Tiong Hua Association.

 

The event topped-off with a dramatic drum show that was performed by JB Drums, Foon Yew High School, UTM and Randrumteam drummers as well as other individual drummers, along with wushu artistes who wielded flags, traditional weapons and swords.

 

It was a most meaningful and memorable event on a bright Sunday morning with the Johor Straits and busy causeway for a backdrop on 12 June 2022, where 100 drummers drummed Chinese drums for a double celebration for the 100^th anniversary of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association and the 34^th anniversary of the founding of the 24 Festive Drums on 12 June 1988.

 

Congratulations and best wishes for many more anniversary celebrations to come!